MRI is a diagnostic technique that has become particularly attractive to physicians as it is non-invasive and does not involve exposing the patient under study to potentially harmful radiation, such as for example the X-radiation of conventional radiography.
This technique, however suffers from several serious drawbacks, including in particular the expense of manufacture and operation of the MRI apparatus, the relatively long scanning time required to produce an image of acceptable spatial resolution, and the problem of achieving contrast in the magnetic resonance (MR) images between tissue types having the same or closely similar imaging parameters, for example in order to cause a tissue abnormality to show up clearly in the images.
The expense of manufacture and operation of an MRI apparatus is closely associated with the strength of the magnetic field that the primary magnet in the apparatus is required to generate in order to produce images of acceptable spatial resolution in an acceptable time.
MR images are generated by manipulation of the MR signals detected from the sample, for example a human or animal body, placed in a magnetic field and exposed to pulses of radiation of a frequency (typically radiofrequency (RF) selected to excite MR transitions in selected non-zero spin nuclei (the "imaging nuclei", which are generally water protons in body fluids) in the sample.
The amplitude of the induced MR signals is dependent upon various factors such as the strength of the magnetic field experienced by the sample, the temperature of the sample, the density of the imaging nuclei within the sample, the isotopic nature and chemical environment of the imaging nuclei and the local inhomogeneities in magnetic field experienced by the imaging nuclei.
Thus many techniques have been proposed for enhancing MR image quality, for example by increasing MR signal amplitude or by increasing the difference in MR signal amplitude between different tissue types.
The imaging parameters (nuclear density, T.sub.1 and T.sub.2) for tissues of interest may be altered and many proposals have been made for doing this by the administration of MRI contrast agents into patients under study (see for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,647,447 (Gries/Schering), U.S. Pat. No. 4,925,652 (Gries/Schering) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,863,715 (Jacobsen/Nycomed)). Where such MRI contrast agents are paramagnetic they produce significant reduction in the T.sub.1 of the water protons in the body zones into which they are administered or at which they congregate, and where they are ferromagnetic or superparamagnetic (for example as suggested by Jacobsen) they produce a significant reduction in the T.sub.2 of the water protons. In either case the result is enhanced (positive or negative) contrast in the MR images of such zones.
The contrast enhancement achievable by such agents in conventional MRI is relatively limited and it is generally not such as to allow a reduction in the image acquisition period or in the field strength of the primary magnet.
Utilisation of the spin transition coupling phenomenon known as dynamic nuclear polarisation or as the Overhauser effect to amplify the population difference between the ground and excited spin states of the imaging nuclei by the excitation of a coupled ESR transition in a paramagnetic species present in the sample being imaged has been described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,984,573 (Leunbach/Nycomed Innovation).
This new technique for generating a MR image of the sample, which is hereinafter termed Overhauser MRI (OMRI), involves exposing the sample to a first radiation of a frequency selected to excite nuclear spin transitions in selected nuclei in the sample (radiation which is generally of radiofrequency or thereabouts and thus for convenience will be referred to hereinafter as RF radiation) and also exposing the sample to a second radiation of a frequency selected to excite electron spin transitions coupled to nuclear spin transitions for at least some of the selected nuclei (radiation which is generally of microwave frequency or thereabouts and thus for convenience is referred to hereinafter as MW or UHF radiation), the MR images being generated from the resulting amplified MR signals (free induction decay signals) emitted by the sample.
The paramagnetic substance which possesses the ESR transition which couples with the NMR transition of the image nuclei may be naturally present within the imaging sample or more usually may be administered as an OMRI contrast agent.
A number of "oxygen free radicals" that is to say radicals where the unpaired electron or electrons are associated with the oxygen atom have been proposed as OMRI contrast agents including for example nitroxide stable free radicals, chloranil semiquinone radical and Fremy's salt (U.S. Pat. No. 4,984,573) and deuterated stable free radicals, in particular deuterated nitroxide stable free radicals (WO-A-90/00904).
Such radicals have not however been found to be entirely satisfactory due to problems associated with stability, toxicity or poor coupling of the electron and nuclear spin transitions.
In WO-A-91/12024 Nycomed Innovation AB proposed persistant carbon free radicals, i.e. radicals where the unpaired electron or electrons are primarily associated with carbon atoms, including triaryl methyl radicals, for use as OMRI contrast agents.